ICCFA Women’s Forum Co-chair Christine Toson Hentges, CCE, right, reaches to congratulate Women’s Forum ICCFA University scholarship winner Kimberly Kojan as Co-chair Nicole Wiedeman shakes hands with Debbie Sproule, who also won a scholarship. The grants, funded by industry suppliers, cover the recipients’ full costs for registration, housing and meals.
Download an application for a scholarship for 2008.
Women's Forum Awards
2007 ICCFAU Scholarships
The ICCFA Women's Forum awarded two ICCFA University scholarships during the association's 2007 Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The two scholarship winners will attend ICCFAU at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, July 20-25. They will be able to choose from among five undergraduate colleges: Cemetery Administration & Management, Cremation Services, Funeral Home Management, Land Management & Grounds Operations and Sales & Marketing.
Debbie Sproule
Sproule is business operations coordinator for the City of Surrey in Surrey, British Columbia. A member of the cemetery and funeral service profession for 10 years, Sproule oversees cemetery operation staff at the City of Surrey and has helped the company revamp its three cemeteries..
She helped coordinate "Operation Remembrance," a joint project between the City of Surrey and the community with the purpose of honoring veterans by placing markers on more than 30 unmarked graves. As a result of this project, the company was awarded a first place honor in ICCFA's 2006 Keeping It Personal (KIP) Awards, recognizing excellence in personalization of cemetery and funeral services.
She serves as a board member for the Cemetery & Crematorium Association of British Columbia and is active in the community, working with the Royal Canadian Legion to plan memorial projects outside the cemetery.
"Quite honestly," Sproule said in her application for the scholarship, "I was coerced into the industry. Ten years ago, I was contracted by a construction company to redesign and manage the renovation of a memorial company's office and production shop. Upon completion, the owner proposed I change career paths and market their new columbarium product. I admit it took some persuastion.
"My decision to stay in the industry was influence mainly by the quality and type of people it attracts and is being led by. When the city of Surrey asked me to revamp and revitalize its cemeteries, I saw the opportunity to find a permanent home in the industry, serve the community in a time of need, further develop my business skills and be menotired further by those I'd come to value and respect.
"My long-range goals include having an impact on cemetery operations across the province, and to continually strive to be like the people who attracted me to the industry and have influenced and educated me along the way."
Kimberly Kojan
Kojan is assistant manager - preneed, for the Miller-Jones Mortuary & Crematory in Hemet, California. As a trainer and assistant manager at the firm's Menifee Valley Memorial Park, Kojan assists in meetings, trains new counselors and oversees staff. She also helps plan "Hope for the Holidays," a program Miller-Jones provides for families who recently have lost loved ones.
Kojan serves the community by volunteering with local assisted living homes and the local food bank, and she organizes luncheons at churches, senior community centers and mobile park homes.
"My decision to enter this field had a great deal to do with the unexpected passing of my mother and grandmother," Kojan said in her application. "I was with them both when the passed, and I wondered what happened to them after they were out of my sight. How were they being cared for? Why did the mortuary put so many limits on what our family was allowed to do for their services?
"After my husband and I relocated to California, I decided to change careers and explore the impact I could have in helping families plan their funerals, making them unique and meaningful. I feel if I can give every family a cherished memory on the most difficult day of their lives, I'm providing families with a great service, and myself with a career that's personally fulfilling."
The following sponsors make the ICCFA scholarships possible:
American Cemetery Supplies
BLP Bronze International
Cold Spring Memorial Group
Crematory Manufacturing & Service
Ferno-Washington
Forethought Financial Services ICCFA Marketing Committee Members
Keystone Group Holdings
Matthews International
Nomis Publications
Trigard/Greenwood Plastics
Wilbert Funeral Services
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Copyright ICCFA 2007
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